Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-07-02
THE HOTEL KITCHEN DOOR.
sIany Curious Charities Dispensed b
Hotel Men ia New York

sIan, Curious Charities Dispensed b,
Hotel Men in New York.
There goes one of them said Clerk
Hord, Of the Victoria hotel
He ponte,, to a neatly dressed and gen
IlemaEly appearing man. who was climb
ing up the first flight of stairs from the
Office. He had been talking about the
charities dispensed by the hotels, and had
remarked that few people had any idea of
the amsunt given away by hotel propri-
etorS every day.
II don't b.l'~ve there's n hotel in New
York which Gv.s not daily feed great
many poor families. Naturally there is a
good deal of waste, especially where
hotels are run on the American plan at
so much day, and there could be no bet
ter way If dsposing Of the surplus.
Every morning at the back kitchen door
of the Victoria you will find score o.
more of poor people waiting for their dole.
The same sight can he seen at all the
other hotels
But about our friend who just went up
stairs What has he TO do with this back
door business
'.Oh. that's a horse of another color
We have three grades of charities First
there are the poor people who make no dis
guise of their poverty and go direct to the
kitchen door Then We have the semi
respectable element that comes to the
COULTER and asks for something 10 eat.
II they look shabby as they generally do,
We refer them to the kitchen, where the
servants eat, and they get a good meal.
But they can't get il every day. Wekeep
tally on the faces of these fellows, and
when they try TO become chronic We chase
them off. The third class is the most
interesting. 1t is eminently genteel, like
the man you saw climbing the stairs to
the dining room few minutes ago. For
one reason or another man may be
stranded in a big town like this for days
at time. He has no friends, and until
relief comes he is half desperate. Scarcely
a day passes when one of this class does
not come in here TO the desk, tell his story,
and ask us to give him something 10 eat
He is well dressed There is nothing in
his appearance that would offend any Of
the guests in the dining room, which is a
matter We have TO consider, of course. We
ask il he has ever been here before He
says no. IL he was regular we should
know him in minute, for We don't pro
pose To run a caravansary for beats or
tramps. Then, in order to make him feel
the embarrassment of his position as little
rs possible, We give him a note to present
TO the head waiter when he enters the
dining room, and he is treated with just
the same courtesy as one Of the regular
guests
do you know il is funny thing, hut
we have entertained many an angel un-
awares in this way. Not a great while
ago a very impressive looking man came
10 the desk, and, saying he was in bad
luck and perfect stranger in the city,
asked us TO give him breakfast. He
said he had just landed from Australia
and was awaiting a remittance from Eng
land. Well, We took no stock in that part
Of his story, but he got the breakfast all
the same, and he was most profuse in his
thanks 1t must have been nearly
month before We saw him again Then
he entered the hotel very modestly. recog-
nized the clerk who had befriended him
and asked for a suite Of rooms Oh the par
lor floor. At the same time he asked the
clerk 20 take care of about 81 COO mostly
in English money. IL turned out that he
was the young son Of an English lord,
who had been trotting around the globe
and had simply missed connections when
he reached New York. He Was with Us
for three months, and before he left had
knocked large hole in that Sc, ZOO.
II could mention great many other
instances where our charity patients have
turned up tramps. That's pure luck
We never think of it when We Oblige
them, but we naturally get the benefit if
their ship comes in"
"You will never find such charities dis
pensed," said Clerk Wall, of the Hoff-
man, lat hotels where all the dining is
done Ia carte, as it is here. Whatever
charities We have TO give are bestowed
outright in money. You can see at
glance that where every meal is cooked to
order there can't be the waste there would
be in hotel run on the American plan, at
SO much a day, where more or less waste
is always TO be found. New York Sun.